Manohla June Dargis () is an American film critic. She is one of the chief film critics for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. She is a five-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

Career

Before being a film critic for ''

'', Dargis was a chief film critic for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'', the film editor at the ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose pare ...

'', and a film critic at ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'', where she had two columns on

avant-garde cinema Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, part ...

("CounterCurrents" and "Shock Corridor"). Her work has been included in a number of books, including ''Women and Film: A Sight and Sound Reader'' and ''American Movie Critics: An Anthology from the Silents Until Now,'' published by the Library of America. She wrote a monograph on

Curtis Hanson Curtis Lee Hanson (March 24, 1945 – September 20, 2016) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His directing work included the psychological thriller '' The Hand That Rocks the Cradle'' (1992), the neo-noir crime film '' L ...

's film '' L.A. Confidential'' for the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

and served as the president and vice-president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. In 2012, Dargis received the Nelson A. Rockefeller Award from Purchase College; the award is, according to the college, "presented to individuals who have distinguished themselves through their contributions to the arts." In 2013, Matt Barone of '' Complex'' named her the eighth-greatest film critic of all time. She was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019.

Preferences

Favorites

Dargis participated in the 2012 ''Sight & Sound'' critics' poll, where she listed her 10 favorite films: *'' Au Hasard Balthazar'' (France, 1966) *''

Barry Lyndon ''Barry Lyndon'' is a 1975 Period film, period drama film written, directed, and produced by Stanley Kubrick, based on the 1844 novel ''The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' by William Makepeace Thackeray. Starring Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Ma ...

'' (USA, 1975) *'' Flowers of Shanghai'' (Taiwan, 1998) *'' The Flowers of St. Francis'' (Italy, 1950) *'' The Godfather Part II'' (USA, 1974) *''Little Stabs at Happiness'' (USA, 1959-1963) *'' Masculin Féminin'' (France, 1966) *'' There Will Be Blood'' (USA, 2007) *'' Touch of Evil'' (USA, 1958) *''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' or ''The Wizard of Oz'' most commonly refers to: *'' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', a 1900 American novel by L. Frank Baum often reprinted as ''The Wizard of Oz'' ** Wizard of Oz (character), from the Baum novel serie ...

'' (USA, 1939)

Best of the Year

* 2004 - '' Million Dollar Baby'' * 2005 - '' A History of Violence'' * 2006 - '' Army of Shadows'' * 2007 - '' There Will Be Blood'' * 2008 - '' Happy-Go-Lucky'' * 2009 - Unranked * 2010 - Unranked * 2011 - ''

Poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...

'' * 2012 - '' Amour'' * 2013 - '' A Touch of Sin'' * 2014 - '' Boyhood'' * 2015 - (tie) '' The Assassin''; '' Mad Max: Fury Road'' * 2016 - ''

No Home Movie ''No Home Movie'' is a French-Belgian 2015 documentary film directed by Chantal Akerman, focusing on conversations between the filmmaker and her mother just months before her mother's death. The film premiered at the Locarno Film Festival on 10 ...

'' * 2017 - ''

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label= French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

'' * 2019 - '' Pain and Glory'' * 2020 - '' Martin Eden'' * 2021 - '' Drive My Car''

Personal life

Dargis grew up in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

's East Village, demonstrating an early love of film through regular attendance at St. Mark's Cinema and Theater 80. She graduated from

Hunter College High School Hunter College High School is a secondary school located in the Carnegie Hill neighborhood on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It is administered by Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY). Hunter is publicly funded, and there ...

and received her BA in literature from

State University of New York at Purchase The State University of New York at Purchase (commonly Purchase College or SUNY Purchase) is a public liberal arts college in Purchase, New York. It is one of 13 comprehensive colleges in the State University of New York (SUNY) system. It was ...

in January 1985. She received a master of arts in cinema studies in 1988 from the New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science. Dargis married wine expert Lou Amdur in 1994. They live in Los Angeles.

References

External links

*
List of Dargis film reviews at ''The New York Times''Interview with Dargis
by Steve Erickson, ''Senses of Cinema'', November 2002. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dargis, Manohla Living people 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers American film critics American women journalists Critics employed by The New York Times Hunter College High School alumni Los Angeles Times people New York University alumni People from the East Village, Manhattan Place of birth missing (living people) State University of New York at Purchase alumni The Village Voice people American women film critics Writers from Los Angeles Writers from Manhattan Year of birth missing (living people)